The Qing Dynasty Mysteries - Books 1-3

by Amanda Roberts

  Inspector Gong rubs his head, sickened over what he is hearing. The girl was crying, trying to get away from Mr. Gibson. He thought about what Lady Li said about the girl not having a choice but to give into him. Even her own brother saw her as the person at fault when she clearly was trying to escape. No wonder she didn’t try to report him or get help. Who would have believed her?

  “So you killed her,” Inspector Gong said through gritted teeth, trying his best not to beat the boy to death right now.

  “I flew down from the roof,” the boy said, continuing his story. “I went back to my uncle. I gave him the bow as a gift. He told me I was a good son. I sleep. I am at peace.”

  “What?” Inspector Gong asked. “Your uncle?” This was the second time the uncle had come up. Could he have played a larger role in this?

  “My father disowned me,” Jiaolong said. “But my uncle, he said he would adopt me. He knows the true meaning of family.”

  “In exchange for what?” the inspector asked. “He said he would adopt you in exchange for what?”

  “What?” Jiaolong asked, looking up confused, as if he had forgotten the inspector was there.

  “Your uncle?” Inspector Gong asked, grabbing Jialong by the collar. “Did he tell you to kill Weilin?”

  “I…I don’t remember,” he said. “He…he told me he was proud of me.”

  “Where is he?” Inspector Gong asked. “Where is your uncle?”

  “I don’t know,” Jiaolong said, his head flopping over again. “He…he came to me. In a dream...”

  Inspector Gong balled up his fist and punched the boy in the face. He didn’t punch him hard, but in his state, it was enough to knock him out. Idiot that he is, he practically admitted to the killing. His “dream” was surely enough of a confession. He had to have done it.

  But Inspector Gong knew there was more going on. He needed to find this uncle. Find out his role in Weilin’s death. He went outside and found a few of his men.

  “We need to find the boy’s uncle,” he said. “He is a Zhao. He would have been seen with Jiaolong. Check every opium house in the city until you find him.”

  “Yes, sir,” they said as they ran off.

  He decided to go home to grab a bite to eat and wait for news. If the men didn’t find Zhao before the deadline, he would charge Jiaolong. It would be an unsatisfactory solution, but he could just add it to the list of other cases that kept him up at night.

  But when he got home, his mother immediately approached him and he lost his appetite.

  “Not now,” he said. “I can’t be bothered with marriage talk.”

  “You hate me so much?” she asked. “You give me an impossible task and then refuse to discuss it with me when I have not seen you in days?”

  “Surely there is one girl in this entire country you can find who meets my perfectly reasonable requests,” he said, exasperated. “Can’t you just take care of this without bothering me?’

  “I cannot!” she said. “I cannot find a girl. I have asked every family, every matchmaker, every fortuneteller! Please, let me find you a bound-foot girl. It is only proper.”

  He sighed and shook his head. He hadn’t wanted to discuss this now, and he was probably making a mistake, but what else was new?

  “I found a girl I will accept,” he finally said. “The question is if you will accept her.”

  His mother nearly fell into the chair next to him. “You found a girl? On your own? Who you will accept? Yes! Tell me! I will call on her parents tomorrow.”

  “You won’t talk to her parents,” he said. “Not yet. You will have to talk to her mistress. She is a second wife, a concubine, but her husband is dead. Her mistress wants to find her a good new home.”

  “A woman already married?” his mother asked, frowning. “Very bad luck. She should remain chaste. Honor her husband in death until her own.”

  “He has his first wife for that,” he said. “This girl is still young. Barely twenty, I think. She deserves to be married again.”

  His mother slowly nodded, considering the implications. “She has flat feet?” she asked. “You said a flat-footed girl. She must not be from a good family.”

  “She is from a very good family,” he said. “She is Manchu.”

  His mother gasped and put her hands to her cheeks. “A Manchu? Have you lost your senses? This is not that woman, that lady we spoke of before?”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “That woman is the first wife. She is the mistress of the girl I want to marry. You met her the other day. Concubine Swan. She was here looking for me.”

  “That strange girl? The one who wandered the street alone?” his mother lamented. “You cannot marry a Manchu. It is not legal.”

  “She is only a concubine,” he said. “And I am a fourth son. Who will care?”

  “You are friends with the royal family,” she said. “Will they not object? Will it hurt your career?”

  Inspector Gong nodded. She could have a point. But it could also play in his favor. “I could try to get official permission from the prince,” he said.

  His mother nodded. “If you do, I will get this girl for you.”

  “It is agreed then,” Inspector Gong said, holding out his hand as if to shake hers. Marriage really was little more than a business transaction.

  She slapped his hand away and laughed as she rose to leave. He doubted she would get any sleep either. She would spend the next few days making arrangements for the meeting with Lady Li and for the wedding. Even though the two families had not even discussed the marriage yet, it was practically a done deal—as long as he could get the prince to agree, and he saw no reason why he wouldn’t. Unless he failed to name a killer and China ended up at war with the foreign powers. It was tempting. Starting a war to prevent a marriage. It could be worth it.

  The next morning, Inspector Gong woke up to an urgent telegram from Lady Li. It said that Jiaolong had purchased the bow and arrow back from Mr. Big. His chest felt heavy. This was the final bit of evidence he would need to charge the boy. He owned the murder weapon just before she was killed. It was enough for a quick conviction. But the note also said something else interesting. She said that Mr. Big said that the boy purchased the bow and arrow as a gift for his uncle.

  He threw on his clothes and went to see if his men had found the uncle. He had to be involved. He had come up in every part of the investigation. Maybe he actually killed the girl but convinced the boy he had done it.

  “We found him, boss,” one of the men said. “He wasn’t even trying to hide.”

  “Did you detain him?” he asked.

  “He is waiting for you at the den,” the man said. “He said he wouldn’t go with us if we weren’t charging him with a crime.”

  “That’s fine,” Inspector Gong said, but he was a little concerned. Usually people would submit to his men out of fear. This man had no fear and knew the law. He was going to be trouble.

  When he arrived at the opium den, he was led to a private room in the back. The man, Zhao Daquan, was sitting serenely, drinking a cup of tea. A beautifully ornate carved bow sat on the table in front of him.

  “You realize I have caught you with the murder weapon,” Inspector Gong said as he sat down across from him.

  “What? This?” Daquan asked, motioning toward the bow. “It belongs to my nephew. He had given it to a host at an opium den to cover his debt. I bought it back from him.”

  Inspector Gong nodded. He hadn’t thought to ask the host at the opium den where he found Jiaolong if he had any of the boy’s possessions.

  “But I must congratulate you,” Daquan went on. “I never thought you would link me to the crime. You did well.”

  “Aren’t you worried I will have you arrested?” Inspector Gong asked.

  Daquan shook his head. “You don’t have any evidence of my involvement. I didn’t kill the girl. I just gave her brother a nudge…and a lot of opium.”

  “But why?” Inspector Gong asked. �
��Your own niece? Your own nephew? Does family mean nothing to you?”

  “Do you know what is more important than family?” Daquan asked. Inspector Gong shook his head. “Land. You might not think so, living here in a city, but where I come from, a man’s family, his soul, his future, his past. It is all in the land. My ancestors, for a hundred generations, were buried on the hill overlooking a stream and all the land for hundreds of li my family owned. They are still there now. But they are looking over another family now. Dozens of families after they split the land like a ripe melon to scoop out its insides.”

  “Your brother told me he sold the land and came to the city for a better life after decades of war in Kwangsi,” Inspector Gong said.

  “A better life?” the brother scoffed. “In this stinking cesspool of a city. My brother lives in a hovel. A running dog of the foreign missionaries. He would have starved without their help. He practically sold Weilin to them, promising she would do their bidding. Then she sold herself to that Opium King. When Jiaolong told me she had fallen with child, I knew what I had to do.”

  “So you had Jiaolong kill her,” Inspector Gong said. “To get revenge on your brother for letting go of the family land?”

  “It was too easy,” he said. “When a person is dreaming opium dreams, they will do anything you ask of them.”

  “You know Jiaolong, your own blood, he will die for this, for you,” Inspector Gong asked, fuming. His hands nearly shaking with rage. “His head will roll.”

  Daquan calmly sipped his tea. “It is better than my brother deserves,” he said. “I would have preferred for his head to roll, but I could not find a way to convince him to kill the girl. He had too much affection, too much pride in her.”

  “She was a good girl,” Inspector Gong said. “She didn’t deserve this.”

  “She was a whore…” Daquan started to say.

  “She was a victim,” Inspector Gong interrupted. “She hated Gibson. She tried to get away, but Jialong shot her instead of him. If he was going to lose his head for murder he should have killed that bastard.”

  “I agree!” Daquan said, slapping the table enthusiastically. “I’m glad you see things this way. You are a smart man.”

  Inspector Gong stood up, grabbed Daquan by the collar, and flung him against the wall. “I am nothing like you!” he yelled. “You ruined your family for nothing. Gibson won’t pay for his crimes against that girl or the Chinese people. The only people who will die are two innocent children all for some petty squabble with your brother. You make me sick!”

  Daquan only laughed. “I have heard of you, Inspector Gong, running dog for the Manchu prince.” He laughed again. “The time of the foreigners, including the Manchu, will come to an end. And all traitors, like you, will go down with them.”

  “That sounds like seditious talk,” Inspector Gong said, lowering Dequan to the floor. “Hey, get in here!” he called to his men who were waiting outside.

  “Yes, boss?” the men asked.

  “I’m sure you heard this man speaking against the emperor and imperial family,” he said to them.

  “Sure, boss,” they said even though they probably hadn’t heard a thing. But Inspector Gong knew he could count on them to support his claims.

  “I said no such thing!” Daquan said, growing nervous for the first time.

  “I might not be able to have you executed,” Inspector Gong said. “But I can have you locked up and beaten for a few days.” He turned to his men. “Take him away, charges of sedition.”

  “No!” Daquan yelled as he was dragged out. “I did no such thing! You’ll pay for this, Inspector Gong!”

  “You aren’t the first enemy I’ve made in this line of work,” Inspector Gong said. “And you won’t be the last.

  22

  Later that day, Inspector Gong called on Lady Li. After the maid admitted him to her office, she nodded for the girl to shut the door. He didn’t know what she thought would happen, but he walked to her and held her in his arms. After the day he had, he just needed to feel the comfort of her warmth. What he wouldn’t give to be able to come home to such comfort every day. If he could, maybe he wouldn’t need baijiu to help him fall asleep every night.

  “I heard that Jiaolong was charged with the murder,” she said.

  He sighed and reluctantly let her slip from his arms. “Yes,” he said. “And I had Bolin released. The uncle is being held on suspicion of sedition, but the charges won’t hold. He will be released soon.”

  They went and sat down together on a wooden couch but they continued to hold hands.

  “Did the uncle actually kill the girl?” Lady Li asked. “What happened?”

  Inspector Gong shook his head. “The uncle wanted revenge against his brother for losing the family land. And he thought the girl had further dishonored the family by getting pregnant. He gave the boy such a large amount of opium, he couldn’t tell fantasy from reality. Even now, days later, the boy’s brain is completely muddled. He doesn’t know what is happening. When I told him he would be executed for his sister’s murder, he didn’t even know what I was talking about. He had forgotten about the dream he had told me.” He sighed, feeling like a complete failure even though he had solved the crime. “At least he will not suffer when he is executed. His mind is completely gone.”

  “His poor parents,” Lady Li said. “They must be devastated.”

  “They are,” he said. “But I do not think they will cause any more trouble. Prince Kung promised them new land and a new house back in Kwangsi Province if they agree not to incite any more riots. They have agreed. They just want to get away from this place, filled with so many bad memories.”

  “I don’t blame them,” Lady Li said, rubbing Inspector Gong’s arm. “So the threat of war, it is over?”

  “It is,” Inspector Gong said. “The ports have reopened and the ships have started to depart. They have already gotten messages to the warships that were on their way and they have agreed to turn away.”

  Lady Li placed her hand to her heart, no doubt greatly relieved. “That is good to hear. Eunuch Bai, he had made arrangements for us to flee Peking if we had not found the killer in time.”

  “So that is what he was doing while he was gone?” Inspector Gong asked.

  “Yes,” Lady Li said, her eyes glancing at the place in the wall where Eunuch Bai’s spyhole was. “He knew I would not give him permission to make such plans, so he took it upon himself.”

  “While I do not agree with his methods,” Inspector Gong said, “I cannot fault him for looking out for you.”

  “Indeed,” she said.

  They sat in silence for a moment, just enjoying being together and the touch of their hands.

  “Lady Li…” he finally started to say, leaning forward, but she let go of his hand, stood, and walked to a table across the room.

  “I received a letter,” she said, pulling a piece of paper from a drawer. “From your mother. She wishes to call upon me at my earliest convenience to discuss marriage arrangements between her son and the girl named Swan.”

  Inspector Gong walked over to her and cleared his throat. “Yes, well…you did say the offer was still open.”

  She nodded as she looked back down at the letter. “I did,” she said softly.

  He reached over and lifted her chin. Her eyes were wet with tears. “You don’t have to reply,” he said.

  “But I do,” Lady Li said as a tear escaped and slid down the left side of her face. “I do.”

  He took her face in his hands and placed his lips on hers. She put her hands around his neck and held him tight, kissing him back passionately.

  “I love you, my lady,” he said. “I’ll never love Swan the way I love you.”

  “I know,” she said with a nod, pulling away slightly. “But it is what we have to do. You need to speak with the prince, get imperial permission to marry Swan. Then I will speak with your parents.”

  “I will,” he said as he let her slip from his
grasp. “He is very busy trying to smooth things over with the foreigners, but I will speak with him soon.”

  “That is good,” she said with a nod of finality as she wiped the tears from her face. “Good. It is for the best. I am sure Swan will make you happy. I know my husband was pleased with her.”

  “I am sure she will give me no cause for complaint,” he said. “Other than the fact that she is not you.”

  “Don’t hold it against her,” Lady Li said. “She has been through so much. Please do good by her.”

  “I will do my best to be a good husband,” he said.

  “Then…then I suppose we shall next meet on your wedding day,” she said.

  Inspector Gong hesitated, but there was nothing left to say. He gave her a slight nod and walked out of Lady Li’s office, the taste of her kiss still on his lips.

  Murder at the Peking Opera

  1

  Lady Li cleared her throat and motioned for a maid to bring some more tea. She was doing her best to affect the air of superiority she usually carried, but the woman sitting across from her was a formidable opponent. She willed her foot to still, not tap, and to hold her teacup gingerly instead of gripping it like a vise.

  “Of course, we are more than pleased our son has finally agreed to a marriage match,” Gong Furen—Inspector Gong’s mother—said as she held her head up and tried to look down her nose at Lady Li.

  But no one looked down on Lady Li.

  Lady Li had worn one of her most ornate chapaos, and her hair was perfectly styled around her batou headdress. The jewels she used to decorate her hair were large and gleamed even in the diluted light of the formal sitting room they were currently occupying in Lady Li’s mansion.

  Gong Furen had spared no effort in her own attire as well, but it was clear that her embroidery thread was not as expensive as Lady Li’s and she owned far fewer jewels. But there were other areas where Gong Furen surpassed Lady Li. Specifically in that she had sons, one of whom wanted to take Lady Li’s companion and her late husband’s former concubine, Swan, as his wife.